Obama's Asia-Pacific tour whips up nuclear arms race
© Collage: Voice of Russia
US policies hamper the resumption of the six-nation talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and whip up the nuclear arms race in the Asian-Pacific region, the North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement, circulated on Monday. US President Barack Obama’s April tour of the region, during which he intends to visit Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines, aims to escalate regional tensions, the statement says.
Using its renewed strategy, approved in 2011,
Washington is trying to block its opponents in the Asian-Pacific region
and strengthen its military and political influence there as part of its
efforts to establish America’s hegemony in Asia and the Pacific, citing
the alleged nuclear and missile threats and alleged provocations on the
part of North Korea, the ministry said.
US Secretary of
State John Kerry, during his trips to Seoul and Beijing earlier this
year, reiterated Washington’s decision to go ahead with joint US-South
Korean military exercises as planned despite top-level contacts between
Pyongyang and Seoul, the statement said.
The aim of such
exercises, held on a regular basis and constantly expanding in scale,
is to build up pressure on North Korea, which compels Pyongyang to
bolster its nuclear deterrence forces and self-defense, the ministry
said. It urged Washington to revise its hostile policy towards Pyongyang
while it’s not too late.
The
US has issued a strong warning to China not to escalate territorial
tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, or otherwise it would face
sanctions similar to those the US had imposed on Russia over Crimea.
While
speaking to a meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the US
assistant secretary of state for East Asia, Daniel Russel, said that
the recent sanctions against Russia imposed by the US and EU should have
"a chilling effect on anyone in China who might contemplate the Crimea
annexation as a model," Reuters reports. While speaking to a meeting of
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the US assistant secretary of
state for East Asia, Daniel Russel, said that the recent sanctions
against Russia imposed by the US and EU should have "a chilling effect
on anyone in China who might contemplate the Crimea annexation as a
model."
In
response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused Russel of confusing two
different issues and reiterated that the Chinese stance on the matter
would remain unchanged.
This
piece of diplomatic fencing was inspired by the fact that China had
recently deployed a number of war ships in the disputed waters with the
Philippines, which in turn filed a complaint against China.
Russel
commented that the US considered this "to be intimidating steps." He
noted that though the US had no intention to interfere in China's
territorial disputes, it couldn't but caution China against making any
wrong moves, especially taking into account the US defense cooperation
agreements with the Philippines, South Korea and Japan.
"The
president of the United States and the Obama administration is firmly
committed to honoring our defense commitments to our allies," Russel
stated, although he did not specify in what way the US was going to
"honor" its commitments.
If
this means imposing sanctions similar to those imposed on Russia over
Crimea, it is unlikely to have any effect on China, just the way it had
no effect on Russia's firm position on Crimea.
April
22, President Obama's official tour of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and
the Philippines begins. He is supposed to reassure these countries of
America's support for strategic and economic partnerships in the
Asia-Pacific regionRead more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_04_21/Obamas-Asia-Pacific-tour-whips-up-nuclear-arms-race-7936/
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